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​          凯瑞中文学校 (CCS) 的公开演讲和领导力课程面向 10 至 17 岁的学生，由经验丰富的教师授课（英文）。这个全年课程每周一次，旨在培养公众演讲和领导力的熟练程度和自信心。每节课老师都会介绍实用的方法，组织学生通过积极参与课堂练习来强化学习。学生参与的练习有：提前准备的演讲、即兴演讲，或者职能之一（领队、评估、计时、语法、即兴提问等）。学年结束时，学生将参加班级的演讲比赛和评比演讲比赛，之后举行颁奖典礼。学生除了培养演讲技能外，课堂上的学习经历还可以培养自信、组织和领导技能。
          今年我们有幸请到了两位非常有经验的老师教授这门课程。其中一位是在本地高中担任五年英文演讲的老师，另一位曾在多个学生组织中担任领导者。我们欢迎新老学生加入演讲课程！详情请看学校网站 https://www.carycs.org/public-speaking.html 或者发邮件给[email protected].

           The Public Speaking and Leadership Class at Cary Chinese School (CCS) is offered to students ages 10-17 and taught by experienced teachers. This full-year class consists of weekly lessons that build proficiency and confidence in public speaking and leadership. Practical ideas are introduced in each lesson and reinforced by students actively participating in class as a prepared speaker, an impromptu speaker, or as one of the functionary roles (ringleader, evaluator, timer, grammarian, table topics master, etc.). By the end of the school year, students will participate in speech contest and evaluation contest, followed by an award ceremony. In addition to developing speaking skills, the learning experiences in the class build self-confidence, organization and leadership skills.​

         This year we are very excited to have two experienced teachers for the classes. One of the teachers has been a full-time speech teacher for the past five years at a local high school, and the other has taken on leadership roles in multiple student clubs. We welcome new and returning students joining the Public Speaking class. For more information about the class, visit the school website https://www.carycs.org/public-speaking.html or email [email protected]. ​

Enrollment:

• Students enroll using CCS online registration system at www.carycs.org during open enrollment period or email [email protected] with student name and class name/time.  Students must be at least 10 years old to enroll.
• Enrollment is for the whole school year.  The school year is divided into two semesters: Fall and Spring.
• Reference School Enrollment Policy: http://www.carycs.org/enrollment-policy.html

Class Time:
           This class is held once a week following the CCS school calendar. Choose following options when registering for the class:​

• In Person: Saturdays 11:00-11:50 am
• In Person: Saturdays 12:00-12:50pm 

Any Questions? Reach out to Ms. Jamie Yu ([email protected]).

Give Today's Youth the Gift of Toastmasters!

Teenagers are often more comfortable communicating electronically than speaking face to face. Yet many events in teenager' lives require interpersonal communication skills to be resolved successfully. Now, more than ever, they need guidance in developing their communication skills.

Through Public Speaking and Leadership class, participants learn to:

• Overcome nervousness when speaking before an audience.
• Organize and present ideas logically and convincingly.
• Listen carefully to others' ideas.
• Participate in and lead group discussion or meetings.
• Offer advice to help others improving their speaking and leadership skills.

After successfully organized and hosted the 2019-2020 year end public speaking class contest, Brian Z., a student, stated:

"I’ve always had a fear of public speaking. Whenever I give a speech, my hands still shake a little. This class has been monumental in helping me develop my speaking skills which are important skills for later in life. This class has not only pushed me outside my comfort zone, it has also been a great experience for me. I met new people and made new friends. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone because it is fun, exciting, and overall an epic experience!"

All these skills are necessary for earning a living in today's competitive job market, but are also essential for maintaining healthy personal relationships and achieving academic goals in middle & high school and college.

Training and Materials:
Our teachers have years of experience teaching students about public speaking. We will be using our own customized training material.

Speech and Evaluation Contests:
At the end of the school year, the class will host speech and evaluation contests. All students are encouraged to participate. Parents are invited. Upon completion of the contests, winners will be announced, followed by an award ceremony for all students.

 

About Toastmasters International:
Toastmasters International (TI) is a world leader in communication and leadership development organization, with more than 345,000 members of 15,900 clubs in 142 countries and regions. www.toastmasters.org

 

From personal crises to the academic rigors of high school, teenagers are constantly confronted by difficult situations. toastmasters Gavel Clubs aim to build effective listening, expression and communication skills that will help guide young people through their teenage years and beyond.

History of CCS Public Speaking and Leadership Program

          In the Spring of 2017, Assistant Principal Jamie Yu, who was also a member of the Techtalk Toastmasters Club, suggested that the club sponsor a Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program (YLP) at Cary Chinese School. The proposal was welcomed by the club officers Lindsay Humeniuk (VP Membership) and Kamal Das (Club President). In order to gauge the interest of parents and students, the club officers decided to host an informational seminar about the training program. On a sunny Saturday morning of May 13th, 2017, members of the Techtalk Toastmasters Club came to Cary Chinese School to deliver the 1-hour seminar. It was well received by the parents and students. The recording of the event was then posted on Youtube and announced to the whole school.

​          The club decided to start YLP in the fall semester. Jamie Yu, who became the school principal in the summer, started to recruit students and prepare training materials. Toastmasters International District 37 provided support and sponsored all materials for the 12-week Youth Leadership Program. It took place at Cary Chinese School on Saturdays in the fall of 2017. Cindy Su Hanselman, who was Division H Director at the time, offered her support after hearing about this program. Cindy and Lindsay became the primary YLP trainers for the 40 students in two classes. Over time several other Toastmasters joined them as substitute or assistant in the class.  The training program was a huge success thanks to the contribution of these volunteer Toastmasters: Lindsay Humeniuk, Cindy Su Hanselman, Jian Zhang, Nancy Ann Potts, Brinda Balakumaran, Steve Dirksen, etc.
          At the end of the YLP training program, parents provided positive feedback, such as this one from a parent Mr. Zhao:

This is a great program. Our daughter Lisa participated in one of the classes...Per my observation, she was in the process of turning from a shy little girl to a more mature and open minded young teenager. This class helped her with that transition in that direction. 
At the beginning of the class, she is nervous about each standing up speech. She would become anxious before the class. Over the time, I think she is getting better. She might still be nervous when on stage but the anxiousness prior to the class is greatly reduced. It didn't take long before she agreed to enroll herself in the final speech contest.
Another lesson she learned was the importance of preparation before performance. She is now much more willing to practice/recital at home prior to a speech in class.
Thanks for organizing this program. I think it is great addition to the school activity classes.

          In the Spring of 2018, Cary Chinese School started to officially offer "Public Speaking and Leadership" classes on Saturdays. The two classes were taught by Distinguished Toastmasters Cindy Su Hanselman and David Linquist. With the support of the school board, Jamie started CCS Gavel Club, a youth affiliate club of Toastmasters International, and became its founding club counselor. At that time the class was using CC and CL manuals from Toastmasters International. While these are great materials for Toastmasters club members, they are more suitable for adults than for young kids. 
          In the summer of 2018, Jamie took time to research and redesign the curriculum of this program with lesson plans. The customized lesson plans provided systematic training while incorporating techniques from Toastmasters and activities more suitable to young students. Cindy helped recruiting other Toastmasters who were interested in teaching children. During school year 2018-2019, the program offered three classes due to huge demand. The classes were taught by Cindy Su Hanselman, Deneatra Barfield, and Adrien Feudjio. The trio worked closely with Jamie to improve this program over time and continued teaching during school year 2019-2020 and beyond.
          Today while there's no longer a Gavel Club at Cary Chinese School, the school is committed to offer Public Speaking and Leadership classes to children ages 10 to 17 to help them improve communication skills and become confident leaders. Some students joined the class year after year so that they continued to practice and improve.